# Plugin Overview

Windshift includes a plugin system built on [Extism](https://extism.org/) and WebAssembly (WASM). Plugins run in a sandboxed environment and can extend Windshift with custom functionality.

## How It Works

Plugins are compiled to WASM modules and loaded by Windshift at startup. Each plugin runs in an isolated sandbox with configurable resource limits:

| Setting | Default |
|---------|---------|
| Execution timeout | 5 seconds |
| Memory limit | 64 MB |

Plugins communicate with Windshift through **host functions** - a set of APIs that provide access to email, HTTP, storage, SCM, and more.

## Plugin Structure

A plugin consists of:

1. **`manifest.json`** - Metadata, entry point, and extension definitions
2. **`plugin.wasm`** - The compiled WASM binary
3. **Static assets** - Optional HTML/JS/CSS files for UI extensions

Example manifest:

```json
{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "A custom plugin for Windshift",
  "entryPoint": "plugin.wasm",
  "extensions": [
    {
      "point": "admin.tab",
      "id": "my-plugin-tab",
      "label": "My Plugin",
      "displayMode": "iframe",
      "component": "index.html",
      "group": "Tools"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Extension Points

Plugins can register extensions at predefined points in the Windshift UI:

| Extension Point | Description |
|----------------|-------------|
| `admin.tab` | Adds a tab to the admin panel |

More extension points will be added in future releases.

## Capabilities

Through host functions, plugins can:

- **Send HTTP requests** - Call external APIs with configurable timeouts
- **Send emails** - Use SMTP to send notifications
- **Store data** - Persistent key-value storage per plugin
- **Run CLI commands** - Execute system commands
- **Create comments** - Add comments to work items
- **Interact with SCM** - Create branches and link items to repositories
- **Log messages** - Write to the Windshift server log

See [Plugin API](/docs/05-plugins/03-plugin-api) for the full host function reference.

## Disabling Plugins

To run Windshift without the plugin system:

```bash
./windshift --disable-plugins
```

Or via environment variable:

```bash
export DISABLE_PLUGINS=true
```

## What's Next

- [Creating Plugins](/docs/05-plugins/02-creating-plugins) - Build and package a WASM plugin
- [Plugin API](/docs/05-plugins/03-plugin-api) - Available host functions and their signatures